The risks in this study are minimal. The children may experience mild, brief, and short-lived negative feelings during some situations (for example, irritation when having to clean up toys after play or shyness when presented with an unusual-looking toy). Those feelings do not differ in any substantial way from emotions all young children experience in the course of their normal daily lives in the first five years.

Although the mother will always accompany the child during the sessions, in some situations the child will be observed by him/herself, while the parent will be in the adjoining room. If the child is uncomfortable with the separation, it will be cut short, or the door to the adjoining room will be open.